A MAN from Blacon has been found guilty of being drunk and disorderly after he threatened security staff at Cheshire Oaks Retail Park.

Sixty-four-year-old Norman Massey, of Worcester Road, Blacon, had cycled from Chester to the Ellesmere Port site after 5.30pm on August 19, 2005.

Giving evidence at his trial at Chester and Ellesmere Port Magistrates Court on Tuesday, Massey claimed to have drunk two small cans of beer a few hours earlier, conflicting with other witness accounts that described him as staggering and smelling strongly of alcohol.

Security officer David Crofts described receiving radio contact from a shop assistant reporting Massey as acting suspiciously by the food court.

Mr Crofts followed Massey into Starbucks Cafe where he confronted him outside the cafe's toilets and told him he would have to leave the site.

Mr Crofts, who was assisted by another security guard Lee Hughes, said: 'He said 'good, I want you outside anyway'. He kept saying he would have our jobs for this. I was concerned because there were a lot of shoppers and schoolchildren around.

'Once outside he was prodding me and waving his finger at me. He was behaving aggressively and abusively and I was trying to calm him down.' Prosecuting, Caroline Harris claimed Massey continued to be abusive as he was escorted to the security hut after staff decided to call the police and he had to be physically restrained.

Massey, also accused of being in possession of a bladed article after a lock knife was found in his coat pocket upon his arrest, insisted throughout his trial that the security staff were the 'aggressors' and he was the victim of harassment.

Describing his reaction when first approached by Mr Crofts, Massey, who said he carried the knife for 'domestic' purposes, said: 'I went dumb, I was flabbergasted. I wondered what was going on.

'I froze in time. What would you do if someone came up to you accusing you of something you hadn't done? I thought I could walk away but thought why should I let them do all this to me?'

Defending, Clare Taylor confirmed a third security officer who had assisted in the incident had since been dismissed over his conduct on the day.

Magistrates found Massey guilty of being drunk and disorderly and imposed a 12 month conditional discharge. They dismissed the charge of being in possession of a bladed article.